Watchman s time becorder



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

B. 0. GEE.

WATGHMANS TIME RECORDER.

Patented May 5, 1891.

.2700 enor (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

E. C. GEE.

WATOHMANS TIME RECORDER.

No. 451,666. Patented May 5,1891.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDWIN o. GEE, 0E BAYONNE, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR oF ONE-HALF "o ALBERT r. FIsIIER, oF NEW YORK, N. Y.

WATCHMANS TIME-RECORDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent NO. 451,666, dated May 5, 1891. Application filed July 22, 1890. Serial No. 359,551. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be itknow that I, EDWIN O. GEE, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, residing in Bayonne, county of Hudson, and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Watchmens Time-Detectors; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to make and use the same.

This invention relates to improvements upon that class of time detectors or recorders wherein a recording mechanism common to two or more stations is located at a central station and actuated by electrical impulses transmitted from any one of the outlying stations to produce a permanent record, showing not only the time,but also the particular station from which the signal was transmitted; and the said invention consists in the novel and improved construction, combination, and arrangement of parts, as hereinafter fully described, and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of the recording mechanism. Fig. 2 is a front or end view, and Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view. Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic view showing the manner of supporting and applying the stylus or puncturing-pin to the dial, Fig. 3 is a view in perspective of the devices for supporting and actuating the stylus or pin. Fig. 6 is a plan view of one form of signal-box or transmittirig-instrument.

Similar letters and figures represent corresponding parts.

The complete system, of which the present invention forms but a part or element, comprises one or more electrical conductors over which signals are sent, a transmitting or signal instrument for each station, adapted to produce a number of separate electrical impulses corresponding to the number of the station, and a recording-instrument, upon or by means of which the time as Well as the number of the station will be noted.

The present invention has mainly to do with the recording-instrument, of which A is the base or support of any approved form or construction, and B the dial or equivalent registering device actuated by any appropriate time mechanism, and for convenience provided with division lines or marks indicating hours and fractions thereof.

3 in rear of bar 8.

The recording mechanism may for convenience of description be divided into three parts or elements, to wit: first, the perforatin g or impressing devices by means of which a record-mark is produced upon the dial or time-card; second, the shifting devices for determining the location or position of successive impressions, and, third, the resetting devices for returning the other mechanisms to their normal positions or the starting-point after the completion of each record.

The perforating or impressing device is rep resented by the cross-head or hammer l, actuated or controlled by an eleetro-magnet 2, and a stylus or perforating-pin 3, supported in proximity to the dial or time-strip B, so that when operated upon by thehammer it will perforate or otherwise mark or impress the surface of the dial, and thereby produce a record opposite or in line with one of the divisionmarks on said dial, thus indicating the time when the impression or record mark was pro duced. In the present instance the electromagnet 2 is suitably mounted upon the base A, with its armature & guided upon pins 5 and carrying a rod (3, passing through a guide 7, the cross-head or hammer 1 being secured to the front end of said rod. Thepin 3, interposed between the hammer 1 and dial B, is supported in an open slot or way in a guide-bar 8 and held in position by the slotted endof a pivoted bar 9 engaging one end of the pin, and a spring 10, carried by said bar 9 and provided with a furcated end engaging the pin The spring 10 engages or presses against a head on the rear end of the pin 3, and serves not only to retract the pin, but also thehammer, against the face of which the head of the pin rests. The arm 9 and its spring 10, co-operating with the slotted bar 8, serve to support the pin and retain it in position to operate upon the dial, and at the same time permit said pin'to be shifted laterally on a line radial to the axis of the dial or transverse to the direction in which the record-strip is moved by the time mechanism. This-lateral movement of the pin is effected by the shifting mechanism, and its purpose is to change the position of the pin or effect a series of separate record-marks corresponding with the number or other designation for any given station.

The shifting mechanism is provided with a motor 0 of any approved construction, provided with an escapement-lever for eontrolling the movements of the motor. In the present instance the motor is shown provided with a train of gears driven by a spring 11, connected to a winding-arbor 12, and provided with an escape-wheel 13, with the teeth of which the pallet lat co-operates in a manner well understood, said pallet at each reciprocation permitting the escape of a single tooth of the escape wheel and a corresponding movement of the gear-train. To the pallet 1% is connected an arm or lever 15, whose outer end is engaged by the hammer l or a part moving in unison therewith, so that each reciprocation of the hammer the pallet will be oscillated and the gear-train advanced. The parts are so adjusted that the release of the gear-train will be effected while the pin 3 is withdrawn from the dial. The shifting of the pin is effected wholly by the action of the motor 0, some moving portion of the latter being connected to the arm 9, engaging the pin 3 in a manner to effect an advance movement of said arm and pin whenever the motor is released by the pallet. The preferred plan is one in which one arm of a lever 16 is attached by a rod 17 to the lever 9, while the other end of said lever 16 is connected by a link 18 to a head 19, secured to one of the shafts of the gear-train. As thus arranged, each reciprocation of the hammer to cause the projection of the pin against the dial will effect an intermittent advance movement of the motor 0, and the latter, acting upon the arm 9, will in turn move the pin laterally, so that at the next reciprocation of the hammer the pin will be caused to engage the dial to one side of the point previously acted upon, and the number of marks or perforations made by the pin willtherefore depend upon the number of separate electrical impulses caused to traverse the coils of the electro magnet 2. It will be observed that the shifting act-ion is effected entirely bya separate motor, and not by the electro-magnet 2, which produces the impression, and as but a slight amount of force is required to actuate the escapement the necessity for employing powerful currents of electricity to operate the magnet is avoided.

The resetting devices are designed to effect the return of the pin 3 to first position after a complete record has been made of the signal transmitted from any one station, and they are constructed and arranged as follows: The link 18 is provided with a pin 20, which rides in a groove 21 in the disk or head 19 of the motor 0. At the base of the groove are formed a series of perforations or holes, (see Fig. 1,) into one of which the'pin 20 enters, and thus effects the attachment of the link 18 to the head 19. The outer or free end of the link 18 rides in a slot 21, formed in a head 22, carried by a lever 23, and the latter is provided with an armature 24:, which is acted upon by an electro-magnet 25.

When any given record has been completed,

the eleetro-magnet 25 is energized and its armature attracted, thereby raising the links 18 until the pin 20 is withdrawn from the hole in the head 19, thereby disconnecting lever 16, through which the shifting of the pin is effected from the motor, whereupon a spring 26, engaging lever 9, draws the latter back to the starting-point, and at the same time shifts the pin 20 in the groove 21, so that when the armature 24: is released and the link 18 is again permitted to move inward toward the head 19 the pin 20 will again enter one of the holes, and the apparatus will be in condition to make another record. A spring 27 may be employed for retracting lever 23, and a guard or supporting-plate 28 is preferably located on each side of the dial B in proximity to the pin 1 to support said dial when the pin is projected against it.

The record made by the pin on the dial is preferably in the form of a series of perforations-that is to say, the point of the pin is driven into or through the dial at each forward movement of the hammer, so as to produce one, two, or more marks on the same radial line, the number corresponding with the number of electrical impulses sent through magnet 2.

As before indicated, any suitable form of transmitting-instruments may be employed at the sending-station, provided they are competent to send one or more electrical impulses over the circuit including magnet 2 and a resetting impulse over the circuit including magnet 25.

In practice I prefer to employ two separate circuits, one for each magnet 2 and 25, and a single return or ground circuit for both magnets. Thus in Fig. 1, 3O designates the ground or return wire for both circuits, 31 the terminal for the circuit including magnet 2, and the terminal for circuit including magnet 25. The transmitting instrument (shown in Fig. 6) is of a well-known type in so far as the act-uatin g devices for rotating the arbor +10 are concerned. The arbor 10 is in circuit with the'case or support and carries a circuit-breaker 42, traversing an insulating-support 45, in or upon which latter are mounted three contacts, two of which 43 are connected to binding-post t6 and the third 44: with binding-post 47. The ground or return circuit is connectedtobinding-posttti,thecircuitincluding magnet 2 with post 16, and the circuit including magnet 25 with post 1L7. Any number of contacts 13 may be employed, the number determining the number of impulses sent through magnet 2, and consequently the number of marks or holes to be made by the pin. The arbor is caused to make one complete revolution in sending a signal. As the circuitbreaker 42 moves over each contact 13, it closes and opens the circuit through magnet 2, thus causing the pin to engage the dial and move laterally one space, and after this series of marks or perforations is completed the circuit is closed temporarily through con- ITS tact 4.4, thereby energizing magnet 25 and resetting the pin in the manner described.

The transmitting-instruments for the signalstations 011 the line are each furnished with a ditli'erent number of contacts 43, and the number of impressions made by the pin on the dial serve to designate the station, while their location determines the time when the signal was given.

hat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In an apparatus such as described, the combination, with the impressing devices provided with a hammer and laterally-movable pin, of the shifting devices connected to said pin and containing a motor controlled by the hammer, substantially as described.

2. In an apparatus such as described, the combination, with the impressing devices provided with a hammer and impressing-pin, the latter guided to move laterally in front of the hammer, of shifting devices connected to the pin and including a motor and intermitting releasing devices, and a resetting device engaging the shifting mechanism intermediate the pin and motor for disconnecting those parts and causing the return of the pin, substantially as described.

3. In an apparatus such as described, the combination, with the impressing devices comprising an electro-magnet, hammer, and pin, of the shifting mechanism provided with a motor, connections intermediate the motor and pin for shifting the latter, and an escapement controlling the motor and governed by the hammer, substai'itially as described.

4. In an apparatus such as described, the combination of the following elements: the impressing device comprising an electro-magnet, a hammer actuated thereby, and a pin, the shifting mechanism provided with a motor, an escapement connected to the hammer of the impression device, and connections intermediate the motor and pin for shifting the latter, and a resetting mechanism controlled by an electromagnet and engaging the connections between the pin and motor to disconnect the former from the latter and effect the return of the pin to the startingpoint, substantially as described.

5. In an, apparatus such as described, the combination, with the impressing-pin and a motor connected thereto and operating to shift the pin laterally after each impression, of an electro-magnet for operating the pin to make an impression on the dial and a second electro-magnet engaging the connections between the motor and pin to release the latter and return it to the starting-point, substantially as described.

6. In an apparatus such as described, the

combination, with the dial and hammer, of the impressing-pin, its slotted support, and furcated guiding-bar, substantially as described.

7, In combination with the hammer and its operatingunagnet, the impressing-pin movable laterally in the slotted guide and the bar engaging said pin on opposite sides of said slotted guide, substantially as described.

8. The combination,withthehammer audits operating-magnet, of the headed pin movable in the slotted guide and the pivoted bar engaging the pin and carrying a spring between the slotted guide and hammer, said spring engaging the head of the pin to retract the latter, substantially as described.

9. In combination with the dial, the hammer and the magnet for actuating the latter, the pin supported in a slotted guide or way, the pivoted bar carrying the retracting-sprin g and engaging the pin to guide and move the latter, a motor provided with an escapement and connected to said pivoted bar, and a rod on the pallet of the escapement engaged by the hammer to release the motor and move the pin laterally, substantially as described.

10. As a means for automatically disconnecting the pin-actuating connections from the motor and for returning said pin to the starting-point after the recording has been effected, the combination, with the motor and the head or disk connected thereto and pro- .vided with a concentric guide and engaging recesses, of the link provided with a pin or projection for co-operating with the said head, and a litter actuated by an electro-magnet and engaging said link, substantially as and for the purpose described. v V

11. I11 an apparatus such as described, the combin ation of the time-dial, the hammer and its electro-magnet, the pin guided to move radially of the dial, the motor 'lorshifting the pin, provided with an escapement, which latter is connected to and actuated by the hammer, the lever connected to the pin-guide and carrying a link B bearing a pin, the grooved and recessed head driven by the motor, and

the lever controlled by an electro-magnet and provided with a slotted head engaging the link, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

12. In a system such as described, the combination of two line-circuits, a signaling-instrument controlling both circuits and adapted to produce successive electrical impulses, a time-dial, impressing devices, including an electro-magnet in one of said circuits, a hammer, and a laterally-movable pin or impressing device, a shifting mechanism provided with an independent motor which is released intermittingly by the hammer and is connected to the pin, and aresetting device actuated by an electro-magnet in the second circuit and operating to temporarily disconnect the pin-shifting devices from the motor, all substantially as and for the purpose specified.

EDWIN G. GEE.

Witnesses:

HENRY E. LORD, ALBERT P. FIsHER.

IIO 

